Sarah said:
Thanks so much for your response. I'm away from the printer right now (it's
at home) and so can't apply your settings. I don't even remember seeing a
Custom setting in Print Quality-- all I recall is a list of pre-set Photo
Papers. Is it possible that I have a different driver (am using Mac OS X, by
the way)? I remember that somewhere (under Color Options) there's a slider
that allows you to choose between Fast and Fine, with settings in between. I
have used it and found that the photos come out quite good. But sometimes
that's greyed out.
Can't help you there as I'm on Bill Gates' system. Either way, for
optimum quality it should be at the "1" setting" (fine).
What about the more fine art papers (non-photo, thicker, textured,
watercolor, etc) -- do you have any experience with those? I use those for
greeting cards and small wall paintings and would love to know what the
optimal settings for these papers would be. Even though Canon may not
officially support these papers, even from the little testing I've done I
can see that on some it works great.
Sorry, I don't use art papers. My greeting cards are always on Epson
Glossy Photo Paper. It's a multiple use paper for me: greeting cards,
CD liners, booklet covers. Except that I don't use it for its intended
purpose - digital photos. For that I use other brands, even from my
dollar store, which produces a slightly superior image to Canon Photo
Paper Pro. Side by side, Canon's paper has a visible haze which the
dollar store paper doesn't have. The drawback is that the dollar store
paper takes a day to fully dry. The advantage is I get 20 sheets for
1 dollar.
The next question would be longevity.
How long can I expect these prints to last?
Only God knows and he won't tell anyone. Canon has thrown some numbers
around which you can easily find using Google. Like photos from film
cameras, anything you print will fade over time. I haven't noticed any
fading in items I have protected behind glass/plastic or just put away
in drawers for several years. They look as fresh as ever. It's not a
concern to me, and I don't even use OEM inks. So that tells you how
little I'm worried about it. Unprotected, and on Canon's best paper, I
saw a photo fade really badly in my kitchen within 3 months. Yeah, I
know, a kitchen is a "harsh environment". But obviously, protection is a
good thing. Epson Glossy Photo Paper easily outlasted Canon's best when
left unprotected in my "kitchen test".
Another thought on printing graphics . . . If I'm printing on plain
paper, then naturally, I choose Plain Paper setting and High Quality.
Any higher resolution or other paper setting and the ink may soak into
the paper too much. But when I use what's called "coated paper" for
graphics, I use the Photo Paper Pro setting, Quality 1 (same as for
photos). This works great for me.
-Taliesyn